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Nelson Gahadza Senior Business Reporter

CONSUMPTION of own produce has improved across the country while employment has returned to the pre-pandemic levels, the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZimStat) has said.

This is according to findings of ZimStat’s eighth round Rapid Poverty, Income, Consumption and Expenditure Surveys (PICES) conducted in partnership with the World Bank.

The Food and Agriculture Organisation defines food self-sufficiency (at national level) in broad terms as generally taken to mean the extent to which a country can satisfy its food needs from its own domestic production.

Historically, governments have prioritised self-sufficiency as a key means of safeguarding national security. 

Food self-sufficiency can insulate countries from international supply disruptions that may arise in the context of war or political tensions, production shortfalls in other countries, or sudden and sharp rises in food prices, according to FAO. 

President Mnangagwa’s administration has put food self-sufficiency on the top of its agenda and the Government has implemented various programmes to ensure national food security. 

These include farm mechanisation, irrigation development and the cocktail of state-assisted farming programmes (free inputs and conservation farming).

ZimStat director-general Taguma Mahonde said, during virtual dissemination of the eight-round rapid PICES 2022 survey report, that consumption of own produce at national level improved from 43 percent in round 7 to 48 percent in round 8.

“Resultantly, 41 percent of households were willing to buy maize-meal in round 8, a decrease from 46 percent in round 7,” he said.

He added that in rural areas, the demand for maize meal dropped from 41 percent in round 7 to 32 percent in round 8 as the residents depended mostly on self-produced maize.

ZimStat together with the World Bank and UNICEF, designed a high-frequency telephone survey of households in 2020 to measure the socio-economic impact of Covid-19 on households in Zimbabwe.

Eight rounds of the same survey were completed between July 2020 and August 2022, with the sample representative of people residing in  both urban and rural areas.

The primary objective of the Rapid PICES survey was to assess the social impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and inform mitigation measures.

However, with time the scope of coverage was broadened to include assessing the impact of the pandemic as it relates to household access to basic necessities such as food, medicine, water and education and the impact on income, food security and welfare.

Other variables included support programmes and improving targeting vulnerable households’ access to food and medication, Covid-19 vaccination and monitoring prices of basic commodities and currencies used for transactions.

Mr Mahonde said the latest survey showed that 24 percent of households needed medicines or treatment in round 8, compared to 22 percent in round 7 and of these households, 75 percent were able to buy medicine compared to 74 percent in round 7.

World Bank country manager Ms Marjorie Mpundu said the frequent data have painted a profound picture of the early impact of the pandemic, its evolution, and household response to the shock.

She said employment has by and large returned to the pre-pandemic level. “However, any fluctuation is likely due to seasonal variation or factors other than the lockdown, closures, and trade restrictions associated with the pandemic,” she said.

Ms Mpundu said of the five key food items, maize meal, cooking oil, beef, rice, and brown or white bread, about 77 percent of the purchases were done in US dollars or South African Rand.

“The use of foreign currency is more common in rural than urban areas. Rapid loss of its value means the currency cannot serve as the store of value and medium of exchange,” she said.

However, she noted that beyond the valuable Covid-19 monitoring function, the survey exercise has added value in other ways.

“It has demonstrated ZimStat’s ability to conduct regular surveillance of the socioeconomic conditions of Zimbabwean households.

“This is very important to measure progress toward national development goals or assess the impact of shocks and reforms,” she said.

She said statistical agencies were expected to produce data at the speed at which society and the economy are changing and this exercise offers a template that can be used in the future to meet the demand of policymakers and the public alike.

According to the survey report, the results of the 8th round showed that at national level, 87 percent of households received the first and second shots of vaccination compared to 74 percent in the previous round.

In urban areas, 88 percent of the respondents had received the first and second shots of vaccination in the 8th round, compared to 87 percent in rural areas in the same round.